EDDYVILLE, Ky. (1/31/13) – AT&T plans to reconnect fiber optic lines on the US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge starting about 9:00 p.m., CST, on Friday, February 1, 2013. While a lane restriction will not be required, motorists are asked to use extreme caution in this work zone.

A critical communications link was severed when the 8200 ton Cargo Ship Delta Mariner slammed into the bridge on January 26, 2012, knocking a 322 ft. span into Kentucky Lake. The impact also knocked out a fiber optic cable that ran across the bridge.

AT&T restored service by running a temporary cable across the bottom of the lake. In recent weeks, a new cable has been placed across the restored bridge. Starting on Friday night, AT&T engineers and technicians will be meticulously connecting the new fiber optic line so it can be put into service.

The overnight work scheduled for Friday is to restore this link that carries Internet and phone service for a number of area schools, industries, and government agencies. Re-establishing the cable connection has required close coordination with various organizations that depend on the critical communications link, including the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 1 Headquarters in Paducah.

The final connection of the new fiber optic line will require technicians to work immediately at each end of the Eggners Ferry Bridge in close proximity to traffic flow. While a lane restriction will not be required, motorists are asked to slow down and use caution. There will be an enhanced police presence in this work zone. Again, technicians will be required to work very close to traffic flow to facilitate the connection process.

Work at the site is expected to start about 9:00 p.m., Friday. The AT&T crew expects to complete their work by about daylight on Saturday morning.

Again, motorists should use appropriate caution where equipment and electrical personnel are working along the bridge approach in close proximity to traffic flow.

The US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge is at US 68 Marshall County mile point 28.146 and Trigg County mile point 0.0 at the western entrance to Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area. The Bridge carries approximately 2800 vehicles across Kentucky Lake/The Tennessee River in an average day.

The bridge opened to traffic in March 1932. In 1943 the bridge was closed for 6 months to allow the bridge to be raised to accommodate higher water levels due to the impounding of Kentucky Lake.

A 322 ft. span of the bridge was struck and knocked into Kentucky by the Cargo Ship Delta Mariner the evening of January 26, 2012. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers formulated a plan to build a new truss span and get the bridge reopened to traffic in 17 weeks.

The US 68/KY 80 Eggners Ferry Bridge is at Tennessee River navigation mile point 41.7 near Aurora , KY.

Timely traffic advisories for the 12 counties of KYTC Highway District 1 are available by going to www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict1. You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.